Apparatus for making tubular non-woven fabrics



R. DILO April 28, 1970 APPARATUS FOR MAKING TUBULAR NON-WOVEN FABRICS Filed Aug. 27, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IVENTOR:

R CHARD DILO w (J 49AM April 28, 1970 m o 7 3,508,307

APPARATUS FOR MAKING TUBUI' AR NON-WOVEN FABRICS '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w R m EMK W Filed Aug. 2'7, 1968 United States Patent O 3,508,307 APPARATUS FOR MAKING TUBULAR NON-WOVEN FABRICS Richard Dilo, Eberbach (Neckar), Germany Filed Aug. 27, 1968, Ser. No. 755,612

Claims priority, appliclgtigg 1Gzesrmany, Sept. 15, 1967,

Int. Cl. D4h 18/00 US. Cl. 28-4 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the manufacture of tubular felt structures, such as endless felts, for use on paper machines, and particularly to apparatus for making such felts from fiber batts or webs.

It was customary heretofore to produce non-woven fiber webs on a card or garnett, to convert the relatively narrow thin webs to a fabric of the necessary width and thickness by means of cross laying equipment, and then to pass the wide fabric through needle punching equipment in order to connect the several layers to each other and sometimes also to a woven base for better strength. The needle punching equipment must be capable of accommodating the full width of the fabric which may be as much as twelve meters in papermaking felts. Needling equipment having such a working width is extremely heavy, and correspondingly costly, and the crosser lappers or similar devices necessary for laying the relatively narrow web in a zig zag pattern having the required width are subject to the same shortcomings. The fibers of the fabric ultimately obtained are necessarily oriented transversely of the fabric length so that the papermaking felts do not have their best tensile strength and stretch resistance in the direction of their normal movement on the paper machine, as would be desirable.

The object of the invention is the provision of needled non-woven tubular fabrics of great width in which the prevailing fiber direction is axial or longitudinal of the tube.

Another object is the provision of simple, effective and inexpensive equipment for making such tubular fabrics.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one of its aspects, the instant invention provides a set of rolls mounted for rotation about respective axes. A continuous fibrous web is fed to the rolls and sequentially trained over the same by suitable operating means in a closed laminar loop in which sequential portions of the web are at least partly superimposed over each other. The superimposed portions are bonded to each other, as by needling on a needle punching machine, and the portion ofthe loop trained over one of the rolls is moved axially of the roll in one direction by an actuating mecha- 3,508,307 Patented Apr. 28, 1970 nism which is mounted on the roll itself for rotation with the same and engages the aforementioned loop portion.

In the more specific aspects of the invention, the actuating mechanism includes several endless tension members, such as chains, having respective strands recessed in circumferentially offset, radially open, axially elongated grooves of the associated roll. The chains serve as carriers for engaging pins which radially project from the groove beyond the roll surface, and are moved by the chains partly received in the grooves at a uniform speed.

It is preferred to mount the set of rolls for rotation about respective axes extending in a common direction, and the fibrous web is fed to the rolls transversely of the common direction.

The chains may each be trained over paired wheels or sprockets axially spaced along the associated grooves, and the wheels may be drivingly connected for joint rotation, the drive arrangement being such as to permit the wheels to be rotated jointly at a plurality of alternative speeds, each different from the rotary speed of the associated roll.

Additional features, other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will readily be appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when considered in connection with the appended drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring initially to FIG. 1, there is shown an apparatus of the invention for the production of endless felt tubes. The conventional elements of the apparatus are not illustrated in detail. The novel features of the invention reside mainly in two generally cylindrical conveying rolls 1 which will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The rolls 1 are mounted for rotation about spacedly parallel axes in a common horizontal plane on respective bearings, not seen in FIG. 1, of which one can be moved toward and away from the other on supporting rails and fastened at the adjusted setting.

A conventional card 5 delivers a continuous web 4 which is 'wound in a closed loop over the rolls 1 in multiple layers when at least one of the rolls 1 is driven. The two horizontal strands of the multi-layered web between the rolls 1 are supported on idlers 3, and the upper strand passes through a conventional needle punching machine 2 whose needle plate is reciprocated vertically by an eccentric in a known manner to punch the web 4, and to A bond the several layers of the same to each other by the stitches produced from the web material.

While the predominant component in the movement of the web 4 between the rolls 1 is in a plane perpendicular to the roll axis, the web is also moved slowly in the direction of the roll axes.

As is best seen in FIG. 2, each drive roll 1 is cantilevered on a column 20 on its shaft 6. The illustrated column 20 is stationary, and it will be understood that the other column conformingly engages two rails extending at right angles to the plane of FIG. 2, can be shifted longitudinally of the rails, and fixed in its adjusted position by means of clamping screws, as is conventional in adjustable machine mounts and not shown in the drawing. The roll 1 not shown in detail will be understood to be identical with that seen in FIG. 2, except as specifically stated hereinbelow.

As is evident from joint consideration of FIGS. 2 and 3, six equiangularly spaced grooves 7 extend axially over the entire curved surface of the roll 1. Brackets 8 axially project from each radial end wall of the roll 1 at the end of each groove 7, as is only partly indicated in the drawing, and shafts 9 are journaled in each bracket to carry a fixedly attached sprocket 10. The six shafts 9 are connected to each other by six circumferentially interposed similar shafts 9 linked to both adjacent shafts 9 by universal joints 11.

As is shown for one pair of sprockets 10 only in FIG. 2, an endless link chain 12 is trained over the two sprockets at the end of each groove 7. One strand of the chain 12 is received in the associated groove 7, the other strand passes through the hollow interior of the roll 1 and is encased in a protective tube of sufficient diameter to accommodate spikes or pins 13 projecting outwardly of the loop of the chain 12 from spaced links of the same. The points on the free ends of the pins 13 project radially beyond the roll surface from the strand of the carrier chain 12 recessed in the groove 7.

A worm wheel 14 mounted on the radial end face of the roll 1 adjacent the column 20 for rotation about an axis which is radial relative to the shaft 6 engages a worm on one of the shafts 9' and carries a bevel gear 15 which meshes with a mating gear 16 rotatably supported on the shaft 6. The bevel gear 16 is fixedly attached to the output member of a speed-reducing gear transmission 17 driven by a variable-speed motor 21.

A set of reducing gears 18 connects the illustrated shaft 6 with a one-Way roller clutch 19 whose input member is oscillated about the clutch axis by a connecting rod 22 operated by the non-illustrated main drive shaft of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, which also operates the needle punching machine 2, the arrangement being such that the clutch 19 indexes the shaft 6 while the needles of the punching machine are out of engagement with the web 4, and the clutch input member makes its return stroke, not transmitted to the shaft 6, while the needles engage the fabric. The axial movement of the pins 13 is continuous but much too slow to interfere with the needling operation. The speed of the motor 21 may be adjusted in a conventional manner, not shown, to control the pitch of the helix in which the web 4 is wound into a tube by the apparatus of the invention.

The roll 1, not shown in detail in the drawing, lacks the gears 18 and associated drive elements. It is turned by the moving web 4. While both rolls 1 are preferably equipped with chains 12, pins 13 and the associated mechanism for moving the web axially along the roll surfaces at the same speed from the column 20 toward the free end of each roll, the apparatus of FIG. 1 can be operated under many conditions with one smooth cylindrical roll which may be either the driven conveying roll or the idler roll. It is also possible, though not preferred at this time, to equip one of the smaller rolls 3 with grooves, chains, and pins in a manner obvious from FIG. 2, and it is contemplated drivingly to connect that roll to the main drive by an indexing arrangement, as seen in FIG. 2 because of the narrow angle of wrap on the rolls 3.

The manner in whichthe apparatus operates will be obvious from the preceding description. A continuous narrow web 4 is fed from the card to the conveying rolls 1 in a generally tangential direction, and a continuous, needle bonded, tubular, non-woven fabric or felt is axially discharged from the free ends of the rolls. The thickness of the felt is controlled by the relative speed of the shaft 6 and of the worm wheel 14, and its width by the spacing of the two columns which support the rolls 1. Both dimensions may be chosen at will without affecting the basic operation of the apparatus. The fibers in the tube are predominantly oriented in the direction of tube circumference.

The apparatus is simple, relatively light, and occupies little space. The needle plate in the needle punching machine 2 may have .a width at right angles to the plane of FIG. 1, which is not wider than the axial offset of successively applied layers of the web 4, but will normally be chosen somewhat wider. It is only a small fraction of the corresponding dimension of conventional equipment for making needle bonded paper machine felts.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates only to a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that numerous modifications and alterations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for making a tubular fabric comprising in combination:

(a) a set of rolls mounted for rotation about respective axes;

(b) operating means for feeding a continuous fibrous Web to said rolls and for sequentially training said Web over said rolls in a closed laminar loop constituted by sequential portions of said web superimposed upon each other;

(c) bonding means for bonding said superimposed portions to each other;

(d) actuating means mounted on one of said rolls for rotation therewith, for engaging the portion of said loop trained over said one roll, and for moving the same axially of said one roll in one direction; and

(e) drive means for driving at least one member of said set of rolls.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said bonding means include needle punching means engageable with said loop for needling the superimposed portions of said Web to each other, and said actuating means include an endless tension member having a portion extending in the direction of the axis of said one roll, moving means for moving said tension member for engaging said portion of said loop.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said one roll is formed with an axial groove in the surface thereof, said tension member being received in said groove, and said engaging means project from said groove beyond said surface.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said axes extend in a common direction, and said feeding means feed said web to said rolls in a direction transverse to said common direction. I

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said'actuating means include a plurality of endless tension members, said one roll being formed with a plurality of circumferentially offset, radially open, axially elongated tension therein, said tension members having'respective portions received in said grooves, moving means formov: ing said portions at a common speed along the associated grooves, and engaging means on each tension member for engaging said portion of said loop.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein said moving means include a plurality of wheel members rotatably mounted on said one roll, two wheel members being axially spaced along each of said grooves, the tension member partly received inthe associated groove being trained over said two wheel members, said moving meansv including connecting means connecting a plurality of said wheel members associated with respective grooves for joint rotation.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein said moving means include means for jointly rotating said Wheel members at a plurality of alternative speeds different from the rotary speed of said one roll.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, said set including a plurality of idlers in frictional engagement with said loop.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said actuating means include a carrier member recessed in said one roll, moving means for moving said carrier member axially of said one roll, and pin means on said carrier member and radially projecting from said one roll for engagement with said portion of said loop.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Examiner 

